Creating Effective Customer Communications

Engaging customers in emerging technologies and having a consistent message across platforms is key, studies have found.

Last month, Forbes posted an interesting story about how businesses can have more effective customer communications. Though the piece, which itself references a Forrester study on the subject, did not focus specifically on financial services, there were some takeaways that I think banks can use as well.

One of those is the importance of having consistent messaging across platforms. This is, of course, something banks strive for, but often can't accomplish. But the importance can't be overstated. As customers interact with banks across more channels than ever before, a targeted message across platforms is key.

Another aspect of customer communications the Forbes piece noted was the need to engage with emerging technologies. This means not only optimizing communications for the tablet and smartphone, but also monitoring social media. Banks, due to regulatory and privacy concerns, obviously can't interact with customers on social media the same way as other businesses, but still need to monitor this space and be proactive if necessary.

Bryan Yurcan is associate editor for Bank Systems and Technology. He has worked in various editorial capacities for newspapers and magazines for the past 8 years. After beginning his career as a municipal and courts reporter for daily newspapers in upstate New York, Bryan has ... View Full Bio

I think with increased attention from regulators on the social media channels and banks' interactions through them that banks are going to be investing more heavily in social media, and that will in turn lead to the consistent messaging that you talk about here.